Alyssa Healy has delivered outstanding consecutive hundreds to guide her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a dominant 10-wicket trouncing over Bangladesh.
Healy remained not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her equally brilliant 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their target of 199 in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and probably a bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the win and progress,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the utmost expertise of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 runs followed possibly the team's shoddiest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s leadership, with the skipper scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
Since data was initially taken on fielding statistics in 2013, the six dropped catches represented the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll review,” Healy commented.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King spellbinding unbroken ten-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was vital to ensuring Australia’s target remained manageable.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
Healy was pleased to learn that the triumph, which puts her undefeated side at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a berth in the semi-finals. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The experienced captain raced to her hundred off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their half-centuries.
Litchfield Shines with Maiden Tournament Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden World Cup fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding effort, the captain dropped the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a tough lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clean catch off Brown but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown bowled the fastest balls at the tournament so far but was still the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Stars
In contrast, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was rendered easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against India a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said star performer Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on England and the Proteas.”
